TikTok settles to avoid major social media addiction lawsuit

TikTok has reached a settlement in a closely watched lawsuit over social media addiction, narrowly avoiding a trial set to begin jury selection on Tuesday. The terms of the agreement, which were reported by The New York Timeshave not been disclosed.

TikTok’s settlement comes about a week after Snap reached a settlement in the same case. The trial is expected to continue in Los Angeles with Meta and YouTube as the only defendants. Mark Lanier, an attorney for the plaintiff, said in a statement to New York Times that they were “satisfied” with the settlement and that it was “a good resolution”. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit follows a lawsuit filed in 2023 by a California woman known in court documents as “KGM.” She sued Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube and alleged that their platforms were addictive and harmed her as a child. The judge in the case previously ordered company executives, including Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri, to testify. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan is also expected to testify, according to The New York Times.

The lawsuit is the first of several high-profile cases against social media companies to go to trial this year. Meta is expected to appear in a New Mexico court in early February in a case brought by the state’s attorney general, who alleged that Facebook and Instagram facilitated harm to children. TikTok and Snap collectively face more than a dozen other lawsuits in California courts this year.